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NATO Salutes Europe’s Defense Budget Increases
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Alliance chief says all members to boost military budgets
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Spending plans made as U.S. pushes for more European outlays
Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Photographer: Jasper Juinen/BloombergThe head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization hailed its first annual review of members’ defense-spending plans amid persistent U.S. calls for European allies to foot more of the collective security bill.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the initial batch of national military-expenditure plans demanded by the U.S. shows progress toward a goal for alliance members to spend at least 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense by 2024. That target will be met by eight NATO countries this year, up from three in 2014, and by at least 15 alliance members by 2024, according to Stoltenberg.
